Obama takes big risk with airstrikesWASHINGTON — For a president criticized as overly cautious and reluctant to lead, Barack Obama is taking a huge risk. He is thrusting U.S. fighting forces into a growing military operation with clear dangers, unknown costs, an indefinite length and unpredictable consequences. After years of resistance, the president who wanted to end America’s wars will now oversee a sweeping airstrike campaign in both Iraq and Syria, a country mired in an int...

Cheap politiciansThe recent bribery convictions of former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell and his wife are only the latest in a seemingly never-ending series of convictions of government officials. A little item on the Internet featured government officials in prison, either currently or in recent times. Among them were a mayor of New Orleans, a mayor of Detroit and a mayor of Washington; a governor of Connecticut, a governor of Louisiana, two governors of Ill...

Make your dreams come trueWe have all heard the old saying, “You must have a dream before you can have a dream come true.” While this is certainly a true statement, it is important to understand where dreams come from and why most are never realized. To be sure, dreams are created in the mind, but the major problem in achieving them is that they are never committed to paper, and a definite plan developed to make them a reality. It is vitally important to understand onc...

So long ago, and yet so nearAccording to a Gallup Poll released this week, “Americans’ trust in the federal government to handle international problems has fallen to a record-low 43 percent, ... Separately, 40 percent of Americans say they have a ‘great deal’ or ‘fair amount’ of trust in the federal government to handle domestic problems, also the lowest Gallup has measured to date.” (Poll conducted September 4-7, 2014, with 1,017 adults, 95 percent confidence level, +/-...

Coalition building can be trickyWASHINGTON — The first President Bush had one, so did President Bill Clinton, and the second President Bush had two. Now, President Barack Obama wants to build a coalition of nations to join the U.S. to combat the threat posed by the Islamic State group in the Middle East and beyond. The diplomacy of coalition building is time-consuming, and questions about who can or should join are often messy. And in this situation it is complicated by the ...

A drugstore quits cigarettesCVS Pharmacy, a national drugstore chain, stopped selling cigarettes last week. This was big news because it was so unusual. And if anyone is wondering why the United States is spending far too much money paying for health care that isn’t making Americans healthier — those first two sentences should help explain it. The chain is rebranding itself as “CVS Health” as it empties its shelves of the tobacco products that contribute to one in five A...

Arkansas voters could face five ballot issuesArkansas voters will apparently face five ballot issues in the Nov. 4 general election. That’s apparently because a lawsuit has been filed questioning the legitimacy of one issue, and its outcome could affect another. Let’s deal first with the three issues most certain to be on the ballot. Issue No. 1 came from Senate Joint Resolution 7, titled “An amendment to the Arkansas Constitution providing that administrative rules promulgated by state ...

Dems turn up focus on minimum wage issueLITTLE ROCK — With no organized opposition and business groups taking a pass on the issue, the proposal to gradually raise Arkansas’ minimum wage faces a potentially easy path to victory now that it’s on the November ballot. Whether that fortune can rub off on a Democratic Party that faces anything but an easy road is another matter. The proposed initiated act’s approval for the ballot last week hands Democrats an issue that they hope to trump...

Investing in scientific researchLITTLE ROCK — With every passing year, science and technology grow more and more important to economic success. It is research that fuels technology’s advances and creates opportunities for tomorrow. Therefore, one of the most important steps we can take as a society and as a state is to invest in research. Throughout our region of the country, governors are committed to promoting economic-development strategies that support the growth of scie...

Two more ballot issues certifiedLITTLE ROCK — The Secretary of State’s office has certified two more ballot issues for voters to decide at the November 4 election — a proposed constitutional amendment to allow sales of alcohol and an initiated act to raise the state minimum wage. The alcohol and minimum wage issues will be on the ballot along with three proposed amendments referred by the legislature. Sponsors of both measures were short of the required number of signatures ...

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State Capitol Week in ReviewThe Courier Your Messenger For The River Valley

Should the truth hurt?Please raise your right hand. Do you promise to tell the truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God? Congratulations, you have just become a witness in one of the most important trials in American history. In case you have not noticed, America is on trial and has been for the past several decades as to what kind of nation we are going to leave our children and grandchildren. This is what I thought about the other day when a reader sent me a...

A big thank you goes to the road crewI would like to take this opportunity to thank Pope County Judge Jim Ed Gibson for the wonderful surprise the people on Crow Mountain got to see recently. The roadside ditches look better than they have looked for awhile now. If my input means anything — I would so much prefer the county workers to be mowing our roadside ditches in Pope County than to be putting down weed killer, as it had killed all the grass but the tall weeds withstood it a...

Applying smart power vs. don’t do stupid stuffWhat a difference a year makes. Last September, the Obama administration and the media were cheering happenstance as victory. A quick review of last year’s events: the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government on civilians, tough talk by President Barack Obama, an administration push for a congressional vote for use of force, Secretary of State John Kerry’s off-the-cuff remark regarding Syrian giving up chemical weapons, Russian Preside...

Hong Kong: One country, one systemThe promise the Chinese government made to Britain and to the world as Hong Kong reverted to Chinese control at midnight on June 30, 1997, that China would abide by the “one country, two systems” plan, which would afford Hong Kong greater autonomy, except in matters of foreign relations and defense, was to last 50 years. That promise is falling 33 years short of fulfillment. The communist government in Beijing has been nipping at the edges of ...

Irresponsible voting choices to avoidThe latest Gallup poll indicates that 14 percent of the people “moderately disapprove” of Barack Obama’s performance as president and 39 percent “strongly disapprove.” Since Obama won two presidential elections, chances are that some of those who now “strongly disapprove” of what he has done voted to put him in office. We all make mistakes, but the real question is whether we learn from them. With many people now acting as if it is time for “a...

Kansas independent could shake up SenateThe race between Sen. Mark Pryor and Rep. Tom Cotton is one of the two or three most important in the country because both political parties believe it will help determine who will control the Senate. But another race could be even more important — the one in Kansas, where businessman Greg Orman, a member of no party, has a chance to win. A recent Public Policy Polling poll placed Orman third in a four-man race with 23 percent support. Sen. Pa...

John Pope: An icon and namesake for Pope CountyJohn Pope was the third territorial governor of Arkansas and a man who helped steer Arkansas out of its wilderness era. However, his outspokenness would spark many political fights within the new territory. Pope was born in 1770 on his parents’ farm in northern Virginia, near the Maryland border. When the American Revolution erupted, his father, William Pope, served as a colonel for the colonial forces. As the war intensified, Col. Pope decide...

State Police should open file to murder victim’s familyWhen is the investigative file in an unsolved criminal case open to the public? The State of Arkansas is taking the position that the file is never open, not even the family of the murder victim, and that’s outrageous. That’s the situation in the case of Francis Ruby Stapleton, who was murdered near her Searcy home on Oct. 8, 1963 — almost 51 years ago. No one has ever been charged in the case, and yet the Arkansas State Police contends that i...

Plenty still at play in Senate campaignLITTLE ROCK — In a campaign where we’ve already seen ads featuring the Ebola virus and a bird pooping on a newspaper, it’s hard to imagine how the Arkansas Senate race could get more intense — or more bizarre. Though Labor Day is traditionally viewed as the time that campaigns heat up, this is a race that has showed little signs of slowing down. Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Pryor and Republican rival and Republican Congressman Tom Cotton have spe...

Training future STEM educatorsLITTLE ROCK — Another academic year is underway, and we are one step closer to 2020. That is the predicted date when three-fourths of the jobs in Arkansas will require advanced skills in science, technology, engineering or mathematics — the STEM disciplines. In preparation for this transformation, more of our schools are employing the STEM Works Program. High school students who prepare early, by becoming involved in STEM career clusters, will...